SRI-NOSC/ncpp/mail/sndmsg.doc
SNDMSG(I) 3/22/76 SNDMSG(I)
NAME
sndmsg - send a message
SYNOPSIS
sndmsg
DESCRIPTION
SNDMSG is a message sending program modeled after the
Tenex program sndmsg. When invoked, sndmsg will ask for two
lists of recipients, a primary list and a secondary list. Any
person whose name appears on either list will receive the note,
and the only difference between the two lists is whether the
person's name comes under the heading 'To' or 'cc'. The format
is the same for both lists - a series of names separated by com-
mas. Each name on the list must be one of the following:
a name listed in the alias file (see below)
the login-name of a unix user
a file name immediately followed by a colon
a network address of the form <name>@<site>
(the @ character is disabled as a line-delete while
the 'To' and 'cc' lists are being typed
The alias file contains entries indicating that a name
used in sndmsg is to be replaced by other names. For example,
the following entry -
skiers:jal,wahrman@RCC,/etc/skilist:
would indicate that any messages which included 'skiers' in the
distribution list would go to jal, wahrman@RCC, and everyone
listed in the file /etc/skilist. Each entry in the alias file
must fit in a single line. This limitation does not hold for
files, however, so an alias entry can point to a file (as in this
example) in order to increase the number of people in refers to.
A file can be specified in the distribution list; this
file should contain names of people to receive the message.
Searching through files and through the alias file is not recur-
sive, so an entry for an alias name may not include another alias
name (or a file which contains alias names), and a file may not
include a file name (or an alias name which contains a file
name). This has some advantages: for example, the following en-
try -
bobg:bobg,Greenberg@BBN
would indicate that any messages sent to the name 'bobg' would
show up in the local mailbox for bobg and also be sent to the
network address shown.
If sndmsg is called by the server FTP, the alias facility
also becomes available for incoming network mail.
At this time, messages which include any network users on
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the distribution list who are a sites other than Rand-RCC or
Rand-ISD will be monitored by the correspondence office.
After the 'To' and 'cc' lists have been entered, sndmsg
will ask for a subject. If it is necessary to type more than one
line of text for the subject or either of the recipient lists, a
newline character preceded by a backslash (the unix literal es-
cape) can be used anywhere in the text. There is, however, a
maximum of 256 characters allowed for each of the above inputs.
After you have entered the subject and recipient lists, you
will be prompted for the text of your message. While entering
your message, you can use a hybrid of the unix and sndmsg editing
characters.
^a teletype-oriented character delete
^b include the contents of some file into the text
^d end of message
^f equivalent to ^b
^h scope oriented character delete
^r retype the current line
^s retype the entire message
^w delete the preceding word
^x line delete
^z equivalent to ^d
@ line delete (standard unix character)
# character delete (standard unix character)
bs character delete
del interrupt (standard unix character)
\ can be used in the standard Unix way as a literal
escape and to enter full ASCII on a half-ASCII
terminal
After you have finished entering and editing your message,
type a ^d or a ^z to tell sndmsg that you are done. It will then
try to mail the message to all of the recipients. The name of
each recipient will be printed out with the results of the at-
tempt to send the message to that person. Mail for network
users will be queued for later handling by a mailer daemon.
FILES
/etc/passwd Location of user mailboxes
unsent.mail Undeliverable mail left here
returned.mail Undeliverable network mail returned
by mailer
.mail Delivered mail left here
/tmp/send????? Temporary file
/usr/net/hnames Network host names
/usr/netmail/????? Queued messages
/usr/net/aliases List of alias names
DIAGNOSTICS
All diagnostic messages are intended to be self explanatory.
BUGS
The control-w handling is quite sloppy.
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